Disclaimer: Little Red Riding Hood does not belong to me (the writer). It only serves as inspiration for this story.
CHAPTER VII – Moonlight Madness
It happened too fast. Wolfe had changed too fast. Wolfe was moving too fast. Unarmed without a cloak or silver dust, Rita was forced to quickly back up into a tree and turn her head away, eyes shut tightly, as Wolfe charged towards her, slamming clawed fingers into the bark, his great arms blocking her from escaping. Hot breath steamed upon her neck, causing her to shiver, but she dare not move or utter any sound. Wolfe sniffed at her skin, growling softly, the flames on his body feeling warm but not dangerous. Rita finally opened her eyes when it didn't seem like he was intent on harming her. Her eyes darted towards where his ring would have been. Luckily, it was still there, so maybe he was still unable to hurt her and was currently paralysed. Swallowing hard, she turned her face towards him. The flames in his eyes had dissipated and for a instant, she recognized Damian.
"D-Damian?" she tested.
He growled, baring those pearly canines, causing her to cringe. Another whiff of the air and he leaned closer, enough to press his nose ever so slightly against the crook of her neck. After a moment, Wolfe's panting became easy breathing, as if he found her familiar and comforting the longer he inhaled her scent. Rita decided to be bold and slowly reach up, hand shaking—who was she kidding? Her whole body was shaking. Finally, her fingers brushed the fur upon his muzzle and she gave a tentative stroke over his forehead and one of his large ears. If canines could purr, this would have been one of those moments as he growled softly, ear flicking a little from her touch. Briefly, Rita wondered if Damian misremembered his time as a beast. She squeaked when he suddenly licked her neck in affection.
"D-Damian!" she cried out in shock, but was pleasantly surprised nonetheless.
Feeling awkward, Rita remained still as Wolfe nuzzled her skin. If she had considered him a pet, she would have found this adorable, but Damian meant more than that to her, and this only proved to be embarrassing. Rita then remembered a conversation she had with Damian the last couple of days. It had something to do with werewolves being drawn to those untouched. Being a virgin, this proved to be a problem for her.
"Damian...if you're in there, you're not being yourself." Obviously, she inwardly chided. "It's okay, I'm here, just don't...do anything perverted, or murderous."
He responded with another soft growl, taking another lick at her neck which flared heat to her cheeks. At the moment, she wondered if Damian actually had complete control of himself and was merely playing just to get close to her. No, she decided. There was honest fear in his eyes at the mere thought of his full moon cycle, but why? Had she yet to see the darkest side of this creature?
At that moment, Felix came flying in, crying out, "Rita! I heard a terrible noise—HOLY!"
Felix's sudden invasion had startled Wolfe into an animal-like rage, turning away from Rita and roaring in the fairy's direction, sending him flying. At inhuman speed, he charged towards the fairy, taking a swipe at him. Thankfully, Felix managed to fly out of the way by merely a hair and a shriek. Wolfe took another swipe at him, managing to hit the pixie, swatting him at a tree. Pupils now pinpointed on Felix, he went in for the kill as Felix stared in horror and covered his face with his arms up, yelling out. Something grabbed him, and he felt air whoosh by him and a sudden thud, but he was unharmed. Felix opened his eyes to find himself within Rita's grasp, having dove for him before Wolfe could lay a hand on him.
He nearly shed tears of gratitude at that moment. "Rita..." he croaked.
"Fly away!" she demanded, releasing him. "Get out of reach!"
"What about you?!" he asked desperately, even as Wolfe looked around in small confusion, then landed his flaming eyes upon the duo.
"The rings will protect me! Just go!"
Gritting his teeth, he ascended as fast as he could as Wolfe pounced, missing him again. Wolfe growled and leaped up a tall tree faster than Felix could fly. He swiped at him again, Felix swerving out of the way before blasting him in the face, surprising the beast. Wolfe landed on his feet and rubbed at his eyes with a few sneezes of sparkles. Enraged, he turned his recovered gaze on Rita. The girl gulped and screamed as he tackled her to the ground, knocking the wind out of her, instantly stopping her cry. For a moment, she couldn't breathe, and Wolfe growled and barked at her, eyes flaring, his ring flashing. Rita suddenly came to the unfortunate realization that even her ring wouldn't stop him in this form. Like Samael said, even the cloak had its limits.
Claws digging into her shoulders and arms as he held her down, he prepared to tear out her throat with his teeth. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes as she begged softly, "Please...don't do this Damian. You're not like this. I know you're not like this."
He growled and he lunged forward as she screamed one last time, but stopped himself. His ring was sparking something fierce, but his strength was proving too much. It became a three-way struggle as his monstrous self fought against his human self. It helped the ring's magic a little and managed to subdue him for the moment. Rita watched with horrified anticipation as he struggled with himself. Damian was still in there, she thought. It became certain that Damian meant it when he said that he didn't hate her. It gave her hope that he would never hurt her intentionally either. Being what he was now, however, those intentions were being pushed aside by the instinct to kill.
"Damian?" Rita asked with uncertainty. "Do you hate me?"
Wolfe seemed to understand her well enough, and finally, his beastly self began to calm down. The ring no longer deemed it necessary to hold him, losing the sparks and the violent glow it had. He leaned forward, sniffing Rita's neck and barely managed out an animalistic sounding voice, "Ri...ta."
She nearly choked out a sob at her relief. "Yeah...it's me, Damian."
He gave her neck a tentative lick before growling, alarming her once again. Instead of lashing out her throat though, he abruptly released her and ran off in the blink of an eye. Wolfe felt Rita's anguish, and it allowed him momentary control over his inner beast. Running off to the nearest high point, he stared at the moon and then his hands, shocked with the blood that stained his claws—Rita's blood. His own anguish surfacing, he howled, standing tall as his cry echoed out through the air.
The master sat quietly on his throne until he felt a great sadness enter his chamber. He opened his gold eyes in the dark and smiled ever so slightly. "How interesting. So, the true beast within has awakened on this night. This will prove to be advantageous."
He raised a clawed hand like he was summoning something, and the shadows shifted beneath the candlelight before taking lives of their own. The master stood and walked down his steps to greet his most loyal minions. As they emerged from the ground like black gas and ash, they took on the form of large wolves, dripping with oil and smoking with mist, their eyes a glowing ruby and their teeth made of black diamonds, growling. The next that appeared were bipedal werewolves made of the same mist and oil, only they were more slender like jackals.
He ran his gaze over his monsters. "Find the girl alive, bring her here while her guardian proves useless this night. Make sure she has the cloak with her."
And with that, they misted away.
Felix shivered in the sky, and upon hearing Rita's scream, he had flown down again. By the time he got there, Rita was lying on the ground and the werewolf was gone. Fearing the worst, he flew towards Rita, finding her eyes open which disturbed him greatly. The smell of her blood filled his tiny nostrils and instantly assumed that the beast had killed her, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Oh Rita!" he sobbed. "I shouldn't have left you alone! This is all my fault!"
Rita's eyes blinked a few times when she snapped out of her shock. "F-Felix?"
His head shot up. "Rita? You're alive?!"
Painfully, Rita sat up, wincing from the marks Wolfe had left in her shoulders. "For the moment."
"Are you alright?! We should find a healer for you!"
Rita shook her head instantly. "No, there's no time for that. Damian needs our help, and we gotta stop him before he hurts somebody."
"Who's Damian?" Felix asked as Rita got to her feet.
"It's Wolfe. The full moon forced him into that form and he can't control himself. The rings protected me, but everyone else is in danger. We gotta get to him before he finds someone that he can hurt," she explained while she gathered her clothes, changing quickly despite how uncomfortable the wet clothes were. "I might be the only one who can stop him right now," she said, putting on the cloak.
"How are we supposed to stop an unstoppable beast?"
Rita muttered under her breath to herself, "Meet him as an immovable object."
"What?"
She shook her head. "Never mind, we have to go!"
Not far off, a small village was minding its own business. Children played and chased each other around while the men were bringing in an armful of chopped firewood while the little women cooked supper. Dogs that were napping away the day's events each rose their head, taking a whiff of the air. One by one, they either barked, growled, or both. Some whimpered and took refuge inside the tiny houses. Perplexed by the dogs' behaviour, the men ventured outside to see what disturbed them so much. From afar, they could barely hear the running footsteps of something closing in on them. A shadow leaped over the town wall and landed in the courtyard. One look at the werewolf brought the townsfolk into a panic.
Wolfe looked around with a growl as the women shrieked and the men shouted to each other about getting their weapons. Roaring, the blue flames coming to life once more, he charged at one man pushing his family to get inside the house. With a beastly glee, he bit into the man's shoulder, his victim crying out in pain. After a moment of torturing his victim, Wolfe reached for the man's neck, and with a single clench, crushed his windpipe. The slaughter that followed was a horrific one. He tore out a man's heart, and lashed out another's throat. The children that bore witness through the peepholes of their windows bawled and wailed.
One boy struggled with his mother's grip in screeching protest while his own father stood outside, making an attempt to sneak on the beast with an axe. Wolfe's ears flicked back, hearing a slight leaf crunching sound before he swung around with a growl, grasping the weapon as it swung towards him. The man yelled out as he was now dangling in the air, held by his throat. His son slipped out of his mother's grip and ran out, grabbing rocks and throwing it at the beast's back. Unfazed, Wolfe growled over his shoulder, throwing aside the man that protested his son get back, sending him crashing through a wall of one house. Turning towards the boy, he slowly approached him, hunger flaring in his eyes. The child stumbled backwards, trying to crawl away and his mother shrieked, running to his side and covering him with her body.
Wolfe raised his sharp claws, bringing it down on the woman, spilling her blood all over the child. The boy cried out in anguish for his mother before Wolfe grabbed him and snapped his neck, dropping the corpse before sniffing the air. There was plenty of prey for him in this place. One by one, each house was raided, screams ringing out and then being silenced. The more he killed, the more blood that dripped from his fur. Drenched in it now, he saw a basin of water and began to gallop up the liquid. Rita and Felix had followed the sounds of screams, running into the village, finding nothing but blood stains and littered bodies.
Rita covered her face with a gasp, shocked at the horrifying sight. Damian wouldn't have done this. "This is horrible," she sobbed, her cries of anguish more painful when her eyes landed on the body of a child. "Oh god, what has he done?!"
Felix stood on her shoulder, just as shocked as her with his wings limp. "What terrible fate has fallen upon them?"
"Wolfe?" Rita breathed, spotting the beastly form of what was once a man. "Why?!"
Her cry tore him away from the water, staring at the girl he barely recognized. He didn't growl. Instead, he stood tall then ran off. Rita shook her head, collapsing to her knees. He'd probably gone off to find another village, she decided. Mortified of the monster he became, she sobbed uncontrollably, unable to comprehend why he had done this terrible deed. Felix could do nothing but look around with a sad frown, unable to come up with any words of comfort. Finally a thought occurred to him.
"Let's go find Wolfe and stop him before anymore die. I hate to put the responsibility on your shoulders, but I think only you can stop him now. I may not like him very much, but...we both know he wouldn't do such a thing in his right mind, right?"
After a moment, her sobs seemed to quieten a bit before she stared at Felix. "Yeah," she croaked.
As she stood up, Felix's wings fluttered with determination. "Let's just pray he gave them all a quick death."
Rita could only nod, forcing herself into a run in Wolfe's direction. After a few hours of chasing, they came across a burning village, people screaming from all directions. Rita's eyes darted around, looking for Wolfe, but she couldn't see him, that was until she saw someone's throat being lashed out by a large bipedal wolf. However, it looked different somehow. It was thinner, and as it turned its head towards her, she saw the gleaming red eyes. Something was very wrong here. Taking a step back, she watched as two regular wolves joined its side as they slowly approached her.
"The Wolf King's minions!" Felix gasped. "Rita, he must be aware you're here and is now after you! You've got to run!"
"What about Wolfe?!"
"Forget him, you're more important!"
Before she could protest further, the three minions pounced towards her. Gasping, she stumbled backwards, barely avoiding them. Quickly, she struggled to her feet and ran towards the inside of the village since they blocked her path back to the forest, while Felix tried to distract some of the monsters from escaping villagers. Barking, they ran after her, and Rita swerved around a flaming corner just as a claw came down, missing her. She saw a windmill and ran inside, ignoring the screams of the villagers as they attempted to escape, to no avail, from the village. Right now, she couldn't help anyone, let alone herself. Still, alone and perhaps safe for the moment, she tried to invoke a weapon. Clearing her mind was next to impossible, knowing her life was at stake, but she kept trying to picture a bow and arrow, but nothing came out.
Exhaling with frustration, she shrieked in surprise when a lesser wolf came barrelling through the wall. Rita covered herself to prevent pebbles and splinters harming her. Looking up, she saw the creature staring right at her and growling. Jaws snapped at her as she backed up out of the way and began running up the spiral stairs. Instead of climbing the stairs after her, it began to climb the mechanisms, jumping from one gear to the next faster than she could reach the top. It leaped in front of her on the stairs and Rita could only slowly back away down the steps, a trembling hand sliding down the railing.
A growl resounded through the air before a stone rubble burst out at Rita as a body came slamming through the wall, eliciting a scream of shock from her. The biped now stood behind her and racing beats hammered inside her head. Trapped as both creatures closed in on her, she watched as more of the beastly creatures came to life as shadows stretched and took on a solid form, completely surrounding her. Rita looked around, panicked and defenceless. Samael may have taught her the secret to invoke, but she had yet to master the ability, so it was completely useless at this point.
Frustrated and scared as the growling beasts closed in on her, she thought of her normal life; her best friend, her grandmother, her mother, even her father. Then her mind had filled entirely with Wolfe and how she felt obligated to help him, especially tonight. Tears running silently down her cheeks, she forced herself to concentrate, closing her eyes and closing out the monsters, and took slow and deep breaths. Just as a biped was about to take a swipe at her, her cloak took on a fiery glow and something blasted it backwards, dissolving it into ash upon impact. The beasts stared at her in what would have appeared to be confusion at the sudden turn of events. Rita opened her eyes, hands outstretched, but instead of a bow and arrow forming, red misty light became a silvery-black short sword, gold wrapped around the base of the blade like vines, and the hilt wrapped in red fabric. On the hand guard was a gold crescent moon with a ruby in its centre.
They all bounded towards her and she swung it wildly at any beast that came at her, a small wave of red glowing light stretching forth and taking out a good portion of them at once, exploding them all into ash. Once she had dealt with the last one, she panted, collapsing to her knees, eyes wide open, sword still in hand. Is this why Arella believed she didn't need a weapon? Because she could simply conjure one? At the moment, all the mattered was Wolfe. Having caught her breath and collected her wits once again, she barely managed to stand. Once she didn't feel wobbly anymore, she descended the stairs, leaving the windmill. The fires still burned and people still screamed, but Felix continued to help the villagers as best as he could, but Rita knew he was running low on energy.
Approaching Felix, a biped went to attack him from behind, but she lashed out, sending another wave at the creature before it could even touch the fairy. Surprised, Felix turned towards the girl. "Rita! You're okay!" He briefly glanced at her new weapon. "Where'd that come from?"
"The cloak's power," she said tiredly. Using invoke magic was taking a toll on her, she soon realized after the sword began to flicker and fade, disappearing completely. "My power," she murmured. She was suddenly so tired and simply wanted to curl up and sleep. Shaking her head to jar it awake, she said, "Did you see Wolfe?"
The pixie shook his head. "No—I don't think he's been through h—holy smokes! Rita, watch out!"
Rita couldn't react other than widen her eyes as the ground shook beneath her feet and she fell over from momentary weakness and the force of the tremors. On her knees, she slowly turned to peer over her shoulder, eyes widening more at the sight of a monster twice the size of Wolfe's werewolf form. This creature differed not only in size, but in mere appearance. A quadruped with three heads and flaming mouths, Rita was rendered speechless. The claws were incredibly sharp, and its fur had a more lethal appearance to it, like it had black knives sticking out of its body. It simply stared at her and then abruptly roared at her, the force causing her and Felix to go flying, Rita's back hitting a tree. When it stopped, she fell to the ground and simply lied there, the impact trauma rendering her completely immobile.
A single tear ran from her eye as she watched the monstrous beast approach her, trying to move but to no avail. Felix was nowhere to be seen, and no one would come to help her...no one. Was she to die here? Closing her eyes, resigning to the imminent end that would befall her, she prepared for the worst. Only then did a howl ring out and her eyes shot open. Just as the Cerberus' flaming maws charged up to bring her to her end, Wolfe landed down from the starlit sky and punched the centre head clean across its jaw, sending a fireball hitting the head on its right. The right head shook off the cinders while the left snapped at the werewolf, who merely jumped back and leaned forward with a powerful roar, his blue flames flaring violently. The Cerberus roared back with three times the ferocity and power, though Wolfe held his ground, only being pushed back by the force by a few inches.
Rita was starting to get feeling back in her limbs, but she didn't care nor notice, only feeling relief that Wolfe had come at all, seemingly to rescue her. If he was barely able to recognize her, she'd believe Damian was still in there. She sobbed a little as she struggled to move, but still could hardly move a muscle. Wolfe and the Cerberus circled each other, the werewolf's eyes flaring. Only when he stood between Rita and the monster did her leap forward, and jumped into the air to thrust a fist downwards, slamming the centre head into the ground, the other two heads' jaws knocking off the dirt jarringly. Wolfe snarled and outstretched his claws, burying them deep into the centre's neck and began to pull, evoking a pained whine and yelp from the creature before it was ripped off, blood splashing all over Wolfe.
Before he could tear off another head, the Cerberus batted him away, Wolfe rolling across the ground before it began to heave with effort with a pained growl, another head sprouting to replace the one lost. Covered in fresh blood, it snarled at Wolfe as he stood, who merely growled back. Still, even as a beast, his instincts knew when to warn him away from a fight he couldn't win. Instead, he jumped over to Rita's side, picking her up in his large hands and bounding off, with an angry howl following after him. Rita realized the Cerberus' disadvantage, as it was large and powerful, but it had no speed or jump capability. A mixture of relief and fear filled her, anxious with Wolfe's beastly form. What would he do to her? Somehow, she wasn't certain if she had been rescued at all.
After a few moments, Wolfe stopped by a river, sniffing the air and then dropping her on the ground. She grunted painfully, then blinked with confusion as he sniffed around the area. Finally, he began to dig a hole in the ground and Rita had a sneaking suspicion that she was a bone to be buried—or did that only apply to dogs? Not wanting to find out, she made another attempt to move, scarcely successful this time as she slowly sat up, her back hurting from the physical trauma, relieved she wasn't a vegetable after the way her spine hit the bark. Instead of making an escape attempt, she watched as Wolfe dug a hole under a tree, brushing aside the earth between the roots. Eyes narrowing in confusion, her fascination forced her to watch him continue his thorough hole.
Eventually, he stopped and stared at her, walking over and picking her up again, causing her to squeak. Taking her to the hole, he placed her under the thick roots and covered the access. Rita soon realized what he was actually doing. He was burying her, but not as a possession. Instead, he was burying her to protect her, using the roots as a sort of barrier. Wolfe collected some strange herbs and a bunch of leaves, being ever so patient in covering her up. What the herbs were supposed to do, she had no idea, but she smiled despite herself. While he blanketed the holes, she reached up to grab the roots and pull herself closer to him.
"Damian, I don't know if you can understand me, or if you do, remember it later, but," she trailed off, hesitant to speak further, "I'm sorry I didn't understand you before. It must be difficult to live with such blood. I'll help you find a way to overcome this. Maybe you can learn to control it. I'll support you, even if you may not want my support. I also want to thank you for saving my life more than once. A few times, I did wonder if maybe I should have let you kiss me, and then you wouldn't have been wounded that time, or stuck with a nobody like me." She paused, her gaze lowering slightly while Wolfe seemingly ignored her. "I haven't even accepted who I am yet, so who am I to deserve companions who will die for me? I don't even deserve to be Red Riding Hood—I'm completely useless," she said with a half-laugh.
Wolfe finally lifted soft blue eyes to stare at her, possibly confused by her laughing. Rita just rested the side of her face on the roots, The truth of the matter was, she feared him leaving, she feared missing him. Though she feared him in general, she was afraid she'd begin to fall for the brute despite how she felt about relationships in general. She always made a point to avoid any bad boys or complete jerks. They wouldn't have been good for her. Still, she found the idea of love overrated and stupid. All she cared about was taking care of her grandmother, looking out for her friend Wendy, and keeping up her grades so she could go to university and become an author. Now she had more to care about, and thinking about it overwhelmed her.
"I don't deserve to save Arda," she said sadly. "I can't even help you right now. Even as you are, you're still saving and protecting me." Emitting a sigh, she leaned back. "If you don't want my help after and want to leave, I'll understand. Jesus, I can't believe I'm getting all emotional," she said with a sniff, wiping away at her face. "I thought I was stronger than this. Truth is, I'm not strong. I've learned that cold hard fact ever since I got here. I guess if you and Felix weren't around, I would have broken down on day two...or be lying dead in a ditch."
While she felt sorry for herself, Wolfe poked his nose through the roots, sniffing her hair with a snort. She could smell the blood on him, but could also smell his familiar odour that was simply Damian. Looking up at him, he reached out with his tongue, the slobbery muscle sliding heavily over her cheek. Blinking and trying to ignore how much that grossed her out, a tiny suppressed laugh managed to bubble out as she wiped her face. Somehow, his inner man was sensitive to her. Perhaps it was the ring's magic, but she couldn't be sure. Regardless, she felt a little better. Sending him a small smile, her confidence had been renewed from his 'input'.
"Thanks, Damian. When tonight's over, I'll do what I can. We can forget this quest for awhile and think about you and getting this under control, so you won't have to fear the full moon anymore."
She was just rambling now, but every word was genuine. Yes, she had been horrified by the very real fact that he had killed innocent people, but was that really his fault? Rita knew nothing of Damian, such as his past or what he liked beyond bedding a woman every chance he got. She didn't know his hopes or his goals, but she knew he didn't want to actually hurt anyone. He was just mad from the full moon, and any other day he was killing to defend himself...and now her. Even now he was thinking of hiding her. Still, once this was over, she was probably going to have to deal with Damian's shock at the massacre he committed. A few days ago, she would have imagined him being indifferent to it, but after his behaviour and fear shown to her earlier, she could only imagine his devastation.
Wolfe's ears perked in alert and immediately backed away and went into hiding. Rita peered through tiny holes as she felt the ground tremble. The Cerberus came into view, snorting and huffing, steam emanating from its mouths. The centre head sniffed the ground while the left and right sniffed the air. It came close to Rita's dug hideout and she held her breath, her heart beating a million a minute. Thankfully, she could feel her body again, so if it came down to it, she would run. With those noses, she doubted she would get to hide long. Despite this, the Cerberus turned away with a disgusted snort. Confused, Rita turned to the strange herbs that Wolfe had mixed in with the leaves. Pushing aside some leaves, she stared at the herb that had purple-blue flowers growing on it. If it turned away the wolves, who knew what kind of effect it had on humans, thinking better of touching it, but what was it?
As the monster turned away, Wolfe jumped out of hiding and attacked, jumping with a kick to its ribs, knocking it over and into a tree. Growling, the beast stood up again and steam came from its mouths. Without any regard for possible danger, Wolfe charged forward, his own flames flaring. Unexpectedly, the enemy spewed out a triple threat gush of ash and some sort of boiling black bile that had a smell so strong, Rita was gagging, forcing her to cover her mouth and nose. As the bile drenched and burned Wolfe, he let out a pained yelp, trying to shake it off, but it merely got harder and stuck to him, sticking him to the ground like glue. Rita watched in horror, fearing the worst that Wolfe couldn't move with the possibility of his life being in danger. Triumphant, the Cerberus approached Wolfe, thick and corrupted drool dripping from its teeth.
"No!" Rita shrieked, weakly pushing aside Wolfe's makeshift barrier.
Now aware to her presence, the beast turned to her with a growl. As she ran towards Wolfe, it took a swipe at her, cutting at her arm as she fruitlessly attempted to dodge. Wincing and gripping her bleeding arm, she stared desperately at Wolfe, trying to think quickly of how to get to him. As the beast prepared for another attack, she forced herself to clear her mind, a quick flash of a red aura consuming her as her weapon revealed itself once more and she cried out with an uppercut swing of the sword with her left hand. Another wave of red light lashed out, splitting the right head in half, leaving the halves dangling their like raw meat, oil spilling everywhere like black blood. It released a howl of pain, stomping back as if to shake off the agony, giving her the opportunity to run to Wolfe.
Wolfe growled at her upon her approach and Rita cautiously took a few steps towards him. Damian's hold on his sanity was probably wearing thin, she decided. Like before though, her weapon disappeared from sight due to exhaustion, and she had an idea of the struggle he was going through tonight. Regardless, Rita attempted to remove the black glue with her bare hands, recoiling with a wince when her skin burned slightly on contact. What was this stuff? As she attempted to free him, the Cerberus had recovered, and howled at the moon, giving her a sense of dread. The shadows shifted, elongated and stretched, twisting around and choking the very life of the forestry around her as the vegetation withered and broke to pieces or turned to ash. Rita felt very cold all of a sudden, hairs on her skin rising up in attention to danger, her very bones chilled by the evil that threatened her existence.
Those shadows rose, solidifying into dozens more of the bipeds and quadrupeds, and a couple more three-headed wolves. Rita saw the very area go dark as bits of the grass and tree bark were frosted over. The only vivid colour she could make out was Wolfe's eyes, glowing a bright luminescent blue, flickering slightly with his flames, and the bright blood red of her cloak. Wolfe growled, still fierce despite the hopelessness of their situation. Rita briefly turned to him, then looked at her ring. Even if she couldn't get out of this, Wolfe probably could. Not only did it serve to protect her, but it kept his full potential locked away. She was too tired to summon her weapon again and didn't think she could hold up a barrier for long.
"R-run," Damian growled out.
She gasped, turning to look at him again. "I can't...I can't leave you alone!"
"Forget...me...stupid girl," he managed, still struggling against his prison.
She wanted to argue and protest the issue, but neither of them had that kind of time to snap insults. Rita reluctantly took a few steps back from Wolfe, trying desperately not to cry and failing, she looked around for an opening to get away. If she could run away and hide for awhile, relying on the fact they were after her alone, Wolfe might have a chance to either break out, or for her to regain her strength enough to get him free somehow. It wasn't the greatest plan, but she didn't have a lot of options.
As she went to make a break for it, all three Cerberus spewed the black goo at her, causing her to shriek in a panic as it covered her. Wolfe roared in protest, fighting his prison more urgently. Rita let out a scream which was then muffled by the goo, completely covering her and hardening, compressing on her body, cutting off her air supply. Even if she could breathe, the fumes would have choked her anyway. She stood there, immobile and preparing for the worst. It felt uncomfortably warm, but was surprised she wasn't burning half to death. Samael's words rung in the back of her mind, reminding her of her resistance to fire. Since the Cerberus breathed and spewed fire, and she covered in solidifying ash, she knew she wasn't going to die. Though she was suffocating, she felt calmer.
Each beast approached her cocoon, ready to take her to their master, with Wolfe roaring at them. As he growled and thrashed, the creatures stopped their advance as Rita's shell began to crack with red light before exploding, sending hardened pieces flying, embedding them into each creature like glass shards, taking out most of them as they were tainted by her light. Rita collapsed to her knees and hands, grabbing her throat as she coughed violently. A few bipeds and all three of the Cerberus remained, advancing on her with violent intent. Rita's coughs ceased and she rose her barrier, though it spiked like a porcupine's back, stabbing through the remaining bipeds with an explosion of ash and yelps echoing out. With only the Cerberus left, Rita stood feebly, turning to face them, a sword sparking into existence in her hand. Rather than take them on foolishly, she turned her attention to Wolfe, and swung her sword, using the last of her energy to dissolve his cocoon, which he stood tall, shattering the prison, flexing his beastly muscles. He then glared at the Cerberus and flexed his clawed fingers, the talons growing in length only slightly as the joints cracked.
Rita collapsed to her knees once again, staring at her ring. "I'm not one for prayers, but please...give Damian the strength to beat those things."
In response, her ring glowed, and the ring on his finger did the same in unison. Its light stretched over the length of his arm, his shoulder, torso, legs, until his entire body glowed red. When it finally dimmed down, his eyes remained the same blue, but his fur seemed like a darker black, like he was a shadow himself, and the flames that engulfed him were now gone. In their place, his feet and arms sparked with red electricity. Staring at himself briefly, he turned to the moon and howled, the force shaking the ground as Rita watched and he stopped, now glaring at the opponents before him. The Cerberus spewed fireballs at him and more ash, but he merely stood there as the goo dissolved on contact and the fire bounced off him, falling to the ground. He caught one fireball and held it, the flaming rocking steaming and smoking in his hand. Squeezing ever so slightly, the red spark seemed to corrupt the flame into a bright red and he threw it at one Cerberus, the ball exploding on contact and dissolving the beast entirely.
Felix flew in at high speed, spotting Rita on the ground. "RITA! Are you alright?!"
Rita glanced up at him and smiled with relief. "Felix, you're okay!"
Felix was shocked when she suddenly grabbed him out of the air and gave him the best hug she could, holding him to her chest, eliciting a blush out of him. "Y-yeah, I'm fine, but what about you?"
She released him then. "Wolfe saved me," she explained and pointed to who she indicated.
Felix turned to see Wolfe's newest look. "Why does he look like that?"
"It's the power of the cloak. I asked, and it answered."
Meanwhile, Wolfe charged at the second Cerberus, leaping into the air and landing on its back, his right hand sparking more furiously before he thrust it into the creature's back and grabbed its spine. With a forceful yank, he tore out the chain link of bones, killing the creature instantly in a cloud of ash. Now faced with the first and final Cerberus, they glared at each other with their own respective growls, threatening to overtake each other. Rita and Felix watched in anticipation as Wolfe made the first move, charging at high speed. The Cerberus spewed plain ash from the mouth of its left head right into Wolfe's eyes, disorienting him as he rubbed at his impaired sight. The monster ran at Wolfe then, taking this opportunity to finish him. Despite his lack of vision, Wolfe's ears perked at the sound of heavy footsteps and caught the left head, crushing the skull under his iron grip with a little help from his sparks. The final and middle head yelped in pain before Wolfe grabbed that head with his other hand and used his other hand to shove it down its throat. As the monster struggled, Wolfe released a large surge of electricity, boiling the beast from the inside out until it poofed into a cloud of dust.
Rita sighed with relief, hoping that was the last of them. Still, something else posed a problem. Wolfe turned to the two and with a growl, advanced on them. Felix panicked, urging Rita to stand and run away, but she felt too weak to move. Wolfe's movements slowed in a peculiar way as his blue flames returned and the sparks disappeared, alarming Rita on a different level. Was something wrong? He groaned, collapsing to his knees and gripping his ribs.
"What's wrong with him?" Felix asked.
Rita looked to the sky. "I can't see the moon. It must be close to sunrise." Willing herself the strength, she struggled to her feet and walked towards Wolfe. "Damian?"
Wolfe fell over completely, his body jerking violently as he yelled out in pain. Slowly, the flames died away, fur shedding profusely as his muscles and size shrunk to normal size. The sound of his bones crunching and shifting made Rita cringe, not in the least bit curious to know what that feels like. Felix flinched with every crack, and when Wolfe's face was back to normal, the fairy breathed out in relief. Rita held her breath however. Rita walked over, and clumsily fell to her knees beside the naked werewolf, touching the hot skin on his face before cupping his cheek slightly.
"Damian?" she asked again
After a moment or two, he eventually opened his eyes, the blacks of his eyes now white again, and his blue irises now a tired and dull colour. He turned his eyes to Rita and her heart nearly broke. "What have I done?" he asked hoarsely. She couldn't answer him, especially now that the tears broke loose once again.
A/N: I apologize for yet another delay. I meant to finish this days ago but things happened. First, I got a cold and I just didn't feel like doing anything as I rarely get sick and when I get sick, I'm down for the count as I'm unprepared for such a thing. I'm okay now, just have the tickle throat coughs for now, but at the moment, I'm not in my best mood. The second thing that slowed me down is the passing of one of my ferrets, Stimpy. He'd been sick for awhile and my mom was considering having him put to sleep just to end his suffering, but he passed away on his own this last Monday. He was the sweetest creature in the world. Though I don't like the idea of favourites, he was definitely the best pet/furry friend we ever had. It still hurts to think about it, so I tried to distract myself by finishing this chapter. Hell, I'm close to crying right now, and I hardly cry, but that's how much Stimpy meant to us. So, those are my excuses for the delay. Hopefully my mind will get back on track soon. I had enough trouble trying to finish this chapter. Maybe I'll add fluff next chapter to make up for the delay and to cheer myself up. That is all.
